Criminal Love: A Billionaire Romance (2 page)

I don’t want
to take risks anymore,
she thought.
And I don’t want my family to get in
trouble.

Hadley must have
been so lost inside herself that Jackson had thought she had been hurt, because
she felt his large hands press into her shoulders. His body heat radiated off
his skin, and Hadley felt strangely comforted by his touch. He leaned down,
coming face to face with her, and asked:

“Are you okay?”

Jackson’s rough,
Texas accent sounded genuinely concerned, and when Hadley looking into his
piercing blue eyes she couldn’t help but think,
I can’t shoot him. I don’t
even want to threaten to shoot him!

Her dark fantasy
turned into something else… something more sensual. She blushed, imagining them
together in an entirely different situation.

“I’m sorry,”
is what Hadley should have said. Or,
“I should have watched where I was
going.”

The close
proximity would have been the perfect opportunity to draw her gun and press it
into Jackson’s side, ordering him into his cabin suite so the West family could
extort the money they came for. But instead Hadley did the only thing she could
think of to get him safely away.

Hadley closed
her eyes and let herself fall to the floor. Only, she didn’t fall, because she
felt Jackson’s strong arms catch her and hold her to him. She heard Jackson
call for her.

The con played
her faint like a proper swoon, mindful to stay out of it only long enough for
him to grow concerned and not call for help on the emergency line. But… long
enough to enjoy the way she felt in his arms.

I could stay
like this forever,
Hadley thought sadly.
But I can’t.

“W-what happened?”
she asked, opening her eyes slowly. She felt a little silly being in the arms
of a perfectly dressed man when she was in her denim shorts, but she couldn’t
help but think that it all looked right somehow.

Jackson helped
her to stand, his large hand guiding the small of her back as he feat steadied
to the floor. However, his touch was electric, and Hadley felt her knees buckle
and she started to fall again. Jackson caught her once more.

“Sea sick?” he
asked.

“Maybe,” Hadley
replied, and then thought that might not be severe enough, and worried that he
might walk away from her, said “I need to lie down, but I don’t… everything is
dizzy.”

Jackson frowned,
but then he steadied Hadley on her feet. His hands remained on her shoulders,
and Hadley never wanted him to let go.

“I’m going to my
cabin to get something. You could lay down until I leave,” he said.

It was a kind
offer. Unreasonably generous, even. Hadley knew that her family would have
wanted her to be cautious, and even though Hadley believed he had been
suspicious of her family this entire time she wanted to think that
she
was the one he had been waiting for. It was silly, of course.

Think of what
is most important right now,
Hadley reminded herself. This was the last
night before the cruise ship docked in the Bahamas. Her family planned to
extort Jackson and keep him hostage in his room all night until morning, where
they would leave the ship following a wire transfer overseas and disappear.

Of course,
Hadley would still have to disappear herself, and that would mean never seeing
Jackson again. No matter what. She felt a pang in her heart. That dark fantasy…
that
sensual
fantasy had evolved into something else. Instead of a
stolen kiss in the hallway, she imagined him taking her on his bed.

Stop dreaming!
she thought.

But Hadley had
to keep Jackson locked up in his room where he would be safe without
endangering her family. Her mind was so full of these deviant thoughts that the
only idea she had was to tempt him all night long.

I’ll have to
seduce him,
Hadley realized. It frightened her and excited her. She had
never seduced anyone before… she had never even had sex with someone before!
She wasn’t sure if she could do it. But Jackson couldn’t step outside his
cabin.

Hadley wasn’t
sure what came over her, but the feeling of Jackson Ward holding her steady
reminded her of the people outside her family and how much she had participated
in hurting them. True, Jackson Ward, billionaire oil tycoon, wouldn’t miss a
few million dollars, but what if something went wrong?

She thought of
the vineyard man in Northern California. She had been unable to stop the
bleeding. Now she knew a little, but she didn’t want it to get to that point.

I’m not
shooting you,
Hadley told herself.
I’m seducing you!

“I could use a quick
rest,” she pretended to admit reluctantly. “But… just a minute.”

Hadley felt
Jackson lead her away, his hand a comforting reassurance on her shoulder down
the long corridor to the best suite on the ship. She could feel her phone
vibrating in her pocket, and swore she heard her parents chattering behind the
next corner.

Together Hadley
and Jackson stepped into his cabin suite, and she slyly locked the door behind
her. She hoped that the thick, cabin doors would deter her clever family long
into the morning.

And then what
will I do?
she wondered. They would figure it out soon enough. A family of
criminals didn’t stay out of prison on luck alone. But she could only hope for
the best, and that they wouldn’t challenge Jackson’s bodyguards during the
night.

Hadley had work
to do. She started to reach towards him, unsure of what seduction really
entailed, but pulled away. What if he didn’t like her that way? What if she was
making a fool of herself?

That thought was
lost as Jackson helped her to the bed, letting her fall gently on the covers.

Hadley felt
strangely empty as Jackson let go and stepped away. She let herself sink into
the heavy covers, closing her eyes, breathing in the musk scent of his
aftershave on the sheets. She had never been so close to a man before, nor in a
man’s bed. Images from her fantasy came back to her.

This is where
Hadley wanted to be the most in the world. Even if she didn’t know anything
about seduction, she didn’t think she would have to feign interest in Jackson.
She had it in spades.

Hadley peered at
Jackson through lidded eyes. He was walking around the suite, looking down at
his phone and sending text after text. Something about that felt wrong, Hadley
knew, but all she could focus on was his strong jawline, his broad shoulders,
and the back of his…

He didn’t appear
to be looking for anything, Hadley realized.
Why did he come back to his
cabin?

Jackson, seeing
her looking at him from the bed, turned fully toward her. He looked down at the
phone, and his expression almost looked pained. Hadley didn’t know why, and she
felt herself reaching for him. She rose from the bed and her hand tentatively
rested on his elbow, the material of his suit jacket soft and luxurious. It
probably cost more than her entire wardrobe back at college. But what she
really wanted to feel was
him.

“Are you okay?”
Hadley asked.

“I’m fine,” he
responded in his drawl, stronger than normal, and she couldn’t help but wonder
if he hid a thicker accent around others. His frown was serious, but when he
looked at her it softened. “Do you feel better?”

Hadley nodded
weakly, but she didn’t let go. There was something else, something he wasn’t
telling her. Normally Hadley was a good judge of character, but she felt as if
there was an entire facet of Jackson Ward she didn’t even understand. It was
intoxicating, but also suffocating.

She could feel
him slipping away from her, and she feared that at any moment he would offer to
escort her back to her cabin, or to med bay.

Hadley couldn’t
let that happen, so she did the first thing she knew to do,
wanted to do
,
and stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips.

She had no idea
what she was doing. She had never kissed anyone, being the outcast she was
always drifting from one place to another, and was certain he would push her
away. But instead she felt Jackson’s thumb rest on her chin, pushing it up so
their lips could better meet. He kissed her back with the passion of a man more
experienced than she.

It wasn’t just
the feeling of his soft lips on hers that had Hadley curling her toes in
sneakers. It was the warmth of his body when it pressed in to hers. Feeling the
rough lines of his frame against her soft curves. It was the fact that Hadley
felt she was truly together with someone for the first time in her life.

Is this really
happening?
Hadley thought, but she realized that she liked it. Really liked
how Jackson slowly pushed her back into the bed and covered her body with his
own. Hadley was short and small, and he felt monstrously large compared to her.
She couldn’t even see over him when he leaned away to look at her body.

At first Hadley
felt self-conscious. She wasn’t wearing a tight, sexy dress like her sister.
Her hair was a short and frizzy red blunt bob. And she had never worn makeup.

But there was
something else too.

And it was far,
far worse than shyness.

Hadley felt
dread at the bottom of her stomach. She could still feel the hard press of her
gun and its holster around her waist. Though it could not be seen through her
flowy blouse, she knew that if this moment progressed any further her identity
would be compromised.

All she wanted was
to let Jackson have his way with her, but as his hand started to travel down
her arms and smooth her sleeves, she almost lost herself to his touch.

I have to
think clearly right now.
She reminded herself.

Hadley had to
get rid of her gun before he saw it, so she slipped out of his reach, feeling
at a great loss when doing so, and started to walk to the bathroom. Jackson,
looking a little alarmed, started to reach for her, but she batted his hands
away as playfully as she could.

“I just need to
freshen up,” Hadley said, disappearing into the bathroom. She sighed in relief
when she shut the door behind her.

The bathroom was
bigger and more luxurious than her family’s entire cabin. Even if they had
splurged with their own small fortune, they could never have afforded an entire
luxury suite.

Hadley turned on
the sink and looked around for a place to hide her gun. With a whisper of joy
she found a small cabinet of fresh towels, took one out, and swaddled her gun
and holster. It took her a moment to consider, but she decided to hide her
weapon in an empty drawer in the vanity that would normally only be used by
women for makeup. He kept his few skin and shaving products on the sink in a tidy
row. He wouldn’t even open the drawer this late into the trip, even when he
started packing.

Hadley smiled
and turned off the sink. The worst was over. She was free from her past, at
least for the night. But she also no longer had anything to protect herself
from Jackson. She felt a conflict in her heart and in her mind, with her two
fantasies fighting for control.

But Hadley also
knew that there was no longer anything to give her away either. She looked down
at her phone and sent a message to her family.

“Seasick.
Down at med bay.”

She hoped that
it would buy her the entire night.

Hadley pocketed
her phone and stepped out into the cabin suite where Jackson stood on the
opposite side overlooking the window. She hoped she hadn’t destroyed the mood.

“I’m a little
nervous,” Hadley said. “I didn’t expect us to go that far. I was just going to
lay down…”

It wasn’t
difficult for Hadley to sound honest and unsure, because Hadley had no
experience with men. She had always
wanted
experience, especially with
Jackson the first time she saw him board the ship with his attractive
confidence. However, Hadley had always floundered at every opportunity to get
closer to the men in her life that could have been something more.

“I didn’t even
think you would like a woman like me…” she said finally.

Jackson turned
around, a quiet smile on his face.

“I’ve seen you
around the ship for days,” he said. “Women in short dresses approach me all the
time. I’d rather have a woman like you any day.”

Hadley felt the
hair on the back of her neck standup at the words
have a woman like you
because all the right connotations were there. Jackson did want it to go as far
as Hadley did. Was he looking for her after all? Maybe he wasn’t suspicious of
her family. Maybe he just wanted to meet her!

She took a deep
breath.

“I’ve never met
a man like you before. I never expected to. You make me feel so… so
different.
”

Hadley struggled
to find the appropriate words.
Hot and bothered?
She couldn’t dare say
that. He’d think she was so weird.

But what Jackson
said instead set her cheeks aflame.

“Do you mean
aroused?” he asked, stepping toward her. Hadley felt her entire body go numb
even as her cheeks tingled with heat. Then something in the bottom of her
stomach changed from dread to… something else entirely. Something tense and
wonderful, but it also made her want to get release in what before were only
fantasies.

If Piper were in
Hadley’s position right now, she would consider herself compromised. That she
was feeling
too much
because of Jackson. But Piper was Piper, and Hadley
was a different woman, and she found that she didn’t mind that she was
emotionally compromised.

She wanted to be
compromised. She wanted to be aroused. Not just now, but in the future.

“Y-yes,” Hadley
stuttered. She gulped when she realized he had unbuttoned his suit, and she
could see his white dress shirt missing the top few buttons, exposing his
chest. The shirt contrasted well with his smooth, tan skin from his time on the
Texas oil rigs. She realized he had probably spent most of his recent life at
sea, and the fluid walk he made toward her only confirmed that fact.